Life is change

The impact that Summer School had on Rita was incredibly significant. She came back fascinated, even more energetic than before, confident and proud of herself. I can imagine her faced shining with excitement while describing her marvellous visit to London to Frank. I think this period there helped her face new challenges and these in turn made her confront her fears and shames. For instance, Rita was able to ask questions in front of a wide audience and to resist the temptation to crack a joke to a tutor in a library, attitude she remarked proudly. I dare say she’s beginning to feel like the ones she called “proper students”. She wants to study outside on the grass with them. At the same time she feels the necessity to help Frank to overcome his fears by trying to transmit him her enthusiasm. I must say I love her idea of giving him an engraved pen as a gift saying: “Must only be used for poetry. By strictest order- Rita” So all in all, as we can see in this scene, Rita’s attitude changed completely, but she wants Frank’s life to give a turn as well and she is trying her best to make it happen.

Be Unique

Rita has a perfectly clear picture of the kind of person she wants to become. She does not want to be herself. She’s made this pretty clear by this point. And this is the main reason why she did not go to Frank’s dinner. She realised she has not actually changed yet, and thought she was not going to fit in with Frank’s friends. Rita peered through his window and saw the group talking seriously, confidently, wittily… Through that window she could take a brief look at all she has always wanted to be, and this vision had two effects on her. First, she freaked out and rushed to the pub where Denny and her mother were singing. But then, she plucked up courage and took this image she had seen at Frank’s as an ultimate goal to achieve, so she decided to start all over again. The sad aspect of this decision is that she wants to change everything about herself, ignoring her incredible uniqueness. She needs to be just like the rest of people, losing in that wish her precious identity.

Rita burst through the door out of breath...

Rita could not hold her excitement after having gone to the theatre, so as she abruptly entered the room she gasped: “I´ve gorra tell someone…” “I went to the theatre!” She does not reflect upon what her word choice is to express her thrill. Her words seem to burst out of her mouth like an uncontrollable flaw. “It was bleedin´ great, honest, ogh, it done me in, it was fantastic. I´m gonna do an essay on it.” Feelings and language are closely connected, the way we express what we feel is an echo of our identity, but we also need to learn how to adapt our linguistic forms according to the context in which we are immersed. For example, if Rita expressed her opinion about the play in an essay using the same register she used with Frank, the essay would be cosidered “incorrect.” Rita was never given the opportunity to learn this before, so the only way she knows to express her feelings towards anything is by using colloquial vocabulary.

“The key to success is often the ability to adapt”

Chase your Passion

“I´m busy enough findin´meself,…” “ I´ve begun to find me_an´ it´s great y´ know…” “It might sound selfish but all I want for the time bein´ is what I´m findin´ inside me.”

Without any doubt, this course is changing Rita´s life as it is helping her to find something within herself that she did not know for sure it existed, but I´ m sure that deep down her heart she sensed it was there. It is her other self, that part of her that she has always felt as missing.
Rita said: “Art and Literature… are providin´ me with life itself.” Wow! She must love studying Art and Literature. I can imagine her face expressions, her thrill, her passion when reading or writing something new, and I could see that passion and excitement when she was getting ready to leave for the theatre. I’ve always admired those people who do what their job or what they love with sheer passion, those are the ones who are always successful in life, this does not mean life it´s easy for them though! Passion gives you determination, self -satisfaction, strength and willpower. In my personal life, I try to do everything I like with passion and at the same time to enjoy what I am being given the opportunity to learn or teach. I don’t know if I am good or bad at what I do, but I constantly try to make the most of it and learn from everything, because after all… we will be learning something new until our last day on Earth.

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.

Why does Frank tell Rita the story of the theology student?

Frank pointed out the anecdote of the theology student to Rita to illustrate his remark: “…a clever answer is not necessarily the correct answer.” Rita had been witty when answering his previous question on her essay, but she failed to understand that in the context in which she was now immersed other parameters would be taken into consideration when deciding which mark her essay should be given. So, though her answer was not precisely incorrect, it would have meant a failure in her essay due to her not following the necessary “rules” when writing an academic paper. These rules are what Frank is going to teach her in the course of her studies since what Rita essentially needs is not content knowledge but guidance. I’m sure, she will discover the rest by herself… I found it interesting the way Frank tries to guide her train of thought, helping her to spot the connections so as to build a rich support for her essay. I must say he is very patient, and I am also sure he knows Rita has a big potential and that she has what’s needed to be an excellent student.

In between the doors of perception

What does she think about Frank´s room and about the “proper” students?

Rita, as I think everybody must have noticed by now, is an extremely perceptive woman. On one of her observations she pointed out what she thought about Frank’s room. She said the room was a perfect mess and that there was nothing phoney in it. I think she was trying to define Frank´s personality through his room as it were his own reflection. She believes he is honest and truthful as his name declares and as his room reveals. At the same time, she admitted she wanted to have a room like that.
Other of her observations was directed towards what she thinks a “proper” student is. She refers to them as the ones who had the chance to start studying right after finishing Secondary school. So she does not consider herself a “proper” student since she did not study when she thinks it was “supposed” to. What I think is that it really does not matter when you start studying, what is really valuable is the desire to become better in every aspect of our life, and for Rita studying is the way to achieve this.

Why does Rita want to study?

Rita is a young hairdresser who has apparently decided to become a student at the Open University. I believe she has taken this decision because she did not have the opportunity to do it when she finished secondary school and now she wants to learn to know more about everything. What I think she really wants is to open her eyes to new realities and experiences and enjoy all the things she cannot understand due to her ignorance such as the opera or the ballet. She said she wanted to see the opera on the telly but she got bored as she did not understand, so in the end she turned it off. I believe this is very valuable attitude since this energy and determination to want to be better is what I think make us grow as persons. Nevertheless, I also feel that we, humans, learn from all forms of experience and that is not always necessary to study at a university to become a wise person.

YOU LEARN // ALANIS MORISSETTE

I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone
I recommend walking around naked in your living room
Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)
It feels so good (swimming in your stomach)
wait until the dust settles

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn
I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone
I certainly do
I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time
Feel free
Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind)
Hold it up (to the rays)
You wait and see when the smoke clears

Wear it out (the way a three-year-old would do)
Melt it down (you're gonna have to eventually anyway)
The fire trucks are coming up around the bend

You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn